An investigator shows the three cartoon faces used to evaluate a restaurant's sanitary conditions in the city of Yantai in east China's Shandong Province in this Wednesday, June 4, 2008 photo. [Photo: ]

    Residents of the city of Yantai in east China's Shandong Province can now find out ahead of time just exactly how sanitary a particular restaurant is, before actually dining there.

    The local sanitation supervision office recently oversaw a program to clean up the dining and drinking utensils used in restaurants, Yantai Evening News reports.

    Disinfecting utensils is one of nine indices listed by the office, the other eight include sanitation facilities and staff. A smiling cartoon face is pasted on the door of any establishment that passes all nine indices.

    A red-faced cartoon is posted at any restaurant that fails to meet one or two of the nine. The Yantai Evening News reports that a restaurant was given the red face of shame on Tuesday after investigators discovered that there was no air-conditioning in the cold dish preparation room.

    Last but not least, a tear-streaked cartoon face is posted at any restaurant that fails to pass at least three indices.

    Restaurants with sanitation problems are given 1 month to make amends by the sanitation department, after which the cartoon faces are altered to reflect the new evaluation.

    So a restaurant sporting a smiling cartoon face today may later have a tear-streaked face if a future investigation reveals sanitation violations.

    The newspaper encouraged diners to report via a fixed hotline any restaurant that refuses to display their evaluation.